Archive June 10, 2025

Mark Morrison, whose song Return of the Mack topped the UK charts in 1996, was taken into custody on Saturday but denied that any battery occurred at Le Bar à Vin in Palm Beach, Florida

A battery charge against British singer Mark Morrison – best known for his 1996 hit Return of the Mack – has been dropped.

The musician, 51, was taken into custody on Saturday after an alleged altercation at Le Bar à Vin in Palm Beach, Florida. However, the star’s lawyers have today confirmed he was at the restaurant to talk to the manager and attempt to collect payment on behalf of a local singer who had performed at the venue.

Although the “conversation escalated”, Mr Morrison’s lawyers said no physical altercation happened and now police have been able to dismiss the battery charge. In a statement, King Legal Group said: “The decision to nolle prosse (formally decline prosecution) ends what should never have been a criminal matter in the first place.

“Mr Morrison has consistently and unequivocally denied that any battery occurred. There was no physical altercation—only a demand for fairness and accountability. The evidence never supported criminal intent or conduct.”

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The legal team explained how Mr Morrison, whose track Return of the Mack spent two weeks as UK number one in April 1996, values standing up for what he believes in. However, they suggested race may have played a role in how the singer was treated.

“While we are relieved the State has dismissed the charge, the underlying context cannot be ignored. The refusal to pay — coupled with how quickly the situation was criminalised — raises legitimate concerns about whether race played a role in how Mr Morrison was treated. It’s not lost on us that advocating for fair pay, especially as a Black man in a position of leadership, can be met with suspicion instead of dialogue,” the statement added.

“Mr Morrison has spent years supporting local artists and standing up for what’s right. That won’t change. He is grateful for those who stood by him, and he remains committed to uplifting the artistic community in Palm Beach County and beyond. Towards that end, and in furtherance of Mr Morrison’s commitment to his community, he is donating the $1000.00 (£730) bond used to secure his appearance, to Little Smiles, a local children’s charity.”

Scooter Braun has reflected on his dispute with Taylor Swift over master recordings, with his comments coming after the singer announced recently that she now owns all of her music

Former talent manager Scooter Braun has reflected on buying Taylor Swift’s former record label six years ago. He’s also discussed the aftermath of the purchase after being publicly criticised by the singer-songwriter.

His new comments come after Taylor, 35, announced last month that she now owns “all of the music” that she’s ever made. She had been releasing re-recorded versions of albums from earlier in her career following a dispute over her back catalogue.

Scooter got the rights to Taylor’s first six albums in 2019 when his company, Ithaca Holdings, bought Big Machine Label Group. Taylor had moved away from the record label, which reportedly owned the rights to her first six albums, the previous year, and it was later announced in 2020 that her master recordings had been sold to investment firm Shamrock Holdings.

When Scooter’s holding company, Ithaca Holdings, purchased Big Machine Label Group, Taylor said in a Tumblr post that she was “sad” and “grossed out”. She also accused the now 43-year-old of being behind “incessant, manipulative bullying”. As reported at the time, Scooter later said: “I don’t do anything with malicious intent. […] I try to do the right thing.”

Now reflecting on the situation, Scooter said on The Diary Of A CEO podcast, in an episode released on Monday: “When I bought Big Machine, I thought I was going to work with all the artists on Big Machine. I thought it was gonna be like an exciting thing.”

He continued: “[Taylor] and I had only met three times, I think, in my life, three or four times. And one of the times, it was years earlier, it was really a great engagement […] we respected each other, we had a great engagement. In between that time, since I’d seen her last, I started managing Kanye West. I managed Justin Bieber. I knew she didn’t get along with them.

“I had a feeling – this is where my arrogance came in – I had a feeling she probably didn’t like me because I managed them. But I thought that once this announcement happened, she would talk to me, see who I am, and we would work together.

“And the announcement came out and I’m calling Scott Borchetta [chief executive of Big Machine Records] and saying, ‘Hey, send me her number […] and I just talked to this person and they’re excited’ […] and then this Tumblr (post) comes out and says all this stuff. And I was just like, shocked.”

Scooter added: “It’s been five, six years, I don’t need to go back into it, but what I can tell you is everything in life is a gift. Having that experience allows me to have empathy for the people I worked with who I’d always say ‘yeah I understand’ but I never knew what it was like to be on the global stage like that.

“I never knew what criticism like that felt like. And like I told you, the biggest gift that I got from that was understanding that all the praise I had received up until that moment was not deserved, and all the hate I got after that moment was not deserved, because none of these people knew me. She didn’t know me. This person didn’t know me.”

In 2019, Taylor announced she would re-record several of her albums in a bid to regain ownership of the masters. A master recording is the original recording of a song, and whoever owns it earns revenue through avenues including streaming and use in TV, film and adverts.

To date, Taylor has released new versions of her previous albums Fearless (2008), Red (2012), Speak Now (2010) and 1989 (2014). Reputation and her self-titled debut, released in 2017 and 2006, are yet to be re-released as Taylor’s Versions.

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